Book-holder.



0. E. ENELL.

BOOK HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16. 1914.

Lfiwfiwn Patented Sept. 4,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- WITNESSES.

' ATTORNEY.

U. E. ENELL.

BOOK HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16. 19m.

Patented Sept. 4, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IIVE EIVTOR:

WITNESSES: We?

snare TTES PATENT omaion OTTO E. ENELL, F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY IVIESNE .EWSTG'N- MENTS, T0 TELEPHONE DIRECTORY CABINET COMPANY, INCORPORATED, 015

NEW YORK, N. Y.

BOOK-HOLDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ge'pt. 4L, rear.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Orro E. ENELL, a

. citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Book-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more especially to a device for holding and protecting from wear, defacement and distortion any book which is frequently consulted and used, as by the public, such as a telephone directory, city directory, dictionary or the like, although I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to any particular kind of a book.

The objects of the invention are to secure the book against removal or displacement, such as carrying away by mischievous persons, and yet enable it to be freely consulted and used; to prevent the book from being thrown around and worn or defaced; to preserve the shape of the book and keep its leaves from rolling at the corners; to keep the book clean and protect it from dust; to

secure a simple, strong device of neat ap-' pearance, which can be inexpensively manufactured, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description. 7

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of my invention, with a book therein;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same with the book open for consultation;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the invention, which has an in clined top and yetincloses the entire book;

Fig. 4 is a vertical central section of the invention applied to the ordinary public pay station operators desk;

Fig. 5 shows in perspective a convenient form of my invention, adapted to contain two books and also support a telephone;

Fig. 6 is a detail section of the book pivoting means shown in Fig. 5, taken vertically and longitudinally of the pivot pin;

Fig. 7 is a detail face view of one of the pivot pin keepers;

Fig. 8 illustrates my invention with sufficient rest space between adjacent book pockets to enable the books to be opened simultaneously thereon, and

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing horizontal top rests.

in said drawings, and particularly in Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, 1, 1 indicate opposite substantially parallel and upright side pieces or members between which the book 2 is adapted to be received in closed position, it being understood that the distance be tween said side pieces is made to correspond with the thickness of the book to be accommodated. This space between the side pieces 1, 1 I have shown open at the front edge and at the bottom edge, the back or rear edge being closed by a closure or backing piece which depends below the side pieces to form an ear 3 for securing the device to a wall. It will be seen that the bottom of the space between the side pieces 1, 1 could be also closed, if desired, either in addition to the closed back or instead of the back being closed. This is merely a matter of detail construction.

The upper edges of the side pieces 1, 1 are inclined forwardly downward at any suitable angle for a desk or book support, and from said edges rests 4c, 4eproject oppositely outward in vertical alinement with the depending spaced members, which rests T have shown as lying in the same plane and forming together a support for the book when open, as shown in Fig. 2. These rests 4:, 4: have at their rear edges ears 5, a by which the device can be secured to a wall or the like, and furthermore said rests are suitably stiffened with respectto the side pieces 1, 1 as by braces 6.

In Fig. l I have shown the sidepieces 1, l of nearly the height of the book to be received between them, and have shown ears 7, 7 projecting upward from the opposite sides of the book pocket or space, near the rear upper edge of the rests 4-, 4, said ears 7, 7 being substantially parallel and adapted to receive a bolt or screw 8 passing through them and the upper corner of the book near its back. The book when closed thus hangs upon said bolt or screw 8, (unless indeed there was enough lost motion for it to rest upon the bottom closure of the book space when one is em loyed), and obviously it will hang there y gravity with its back or binding against the rear wall of the pocket or against the wall to which the device is attached if there be no rear Wall for the pocket. Obviously, when it is del ll tii sired to open the book, 'it can be readily swung up and spread out upon the rests 4, 4 as shown in Fig. 2 with the back of the book directly over the pocket, automatically returning to its pocket between the side pieces 1., '1 as soon as it is closed. Under some conditions I may place the bolt or screw 8 sufliciently low to cause the book, as soon as released from the hands of the user, to automatically close and enter its pocket or slot, such a construction being illustrated in Fig. 3.

It will be understood that the holder can be made of any suitable material, with its parts joined in any manner which may ocour to those skilled in the art. The construction which I have specifically shown, however, can be stamped out of a single piece of sheet metal and then readily bent into final shape with the depending arms of the braces 6, 6 soldered or otherwise suitably secured to the side pieces 1, 1.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown forms of my invention in which the book pocket is rectangular, so as to entirely receive the book with its top edge lying flush with the restswhich support the book when open. This is done in Fig. 3 by securing the rear edges of the rests 9, 9 to a shelf 10 and the ear 11 at the lower end of the rear edges of the side pieces 12, 12 directly to the wall, so that said side pieces although rectangular are disposed with their front and rear edges at an angle to the vertical equal to the angle of the inclined rests 9, 9. In this case recesses 13 are provided in the front edges of the side pieces 12, 12 to afford a finger hold for withdrawing the book, for obviously the book when hanging closed is entirely between the side pieces.

In this construction of Fig. 3 I have shown the pivotal bolt or screw 14 for the book as put through the upper rear corners of the side pieces 12, 12, so that unless the book when opened is positively held upon the top rests 9, 9 it will close and slip back into the pocket. I have also in this construction shown a stay 15 between the lower front corners of the side pieces 12, 12.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a holder with side pieces 16 which are'obliquely disposed as in Fig. 3 and are for their lower rear corners let into the front of a desk 17 such as is commonly used by telephone operators in public stations and the like. The rests 18 are secured at their rear edges to the edge of the top 19 of the desk and the front of the desk is vertically slotted as at 20 to receive the lower rear part of the holder or its side pieces 12, 12. In this construction the back or rear edge of the book pocket is preferably closed as at 21, and so also is the bottom of the pocket at least as far as the front wall 22 of the desk, as shown at This serves to exclude dust and the like from reaching the book from the interior of the desk, and at the front end of the bottom closure 23 an car 24 may be pro vided for securing the book holder to the desk. y

In Fig. 5 I have shown a holder adapted to accommodate two books 25, the outer side pieces 26, 26 having between themselves an intermediate side piece or a partition 27 and thus forming 'the two pockets 28, 28, all of the side pieces having their front and top edges inclined as described in connection with Fig. 3, but I have shown their rear edges as vertical and secured to a back 29 adapted to lie against a wall or the like. This back projects above and below the side pieces, for fastening in place to such a wall, and a bottom 30 is provided for the pockets 28, said bottom being notched or recessed at the front of the pockets, as at 31, 31 to afford access to the books for swinging them out of their pockets. Rests 32, 32 project outward from the upper edges of the outer side pieces 26, 26 to support the books when open, although obviously only one book can be outspread at a time. t

In this Fig. 5, I have also shown improved means for pivoting each'book in its pocket, said means comprising sectional keepers adapted to be fixed to the top edges of the pockets near the rear and receive the preferably reduced ends 33 of a pin 34 extending through the book 25, as shown in detail in Fig. 6. The lower section '35 of each keeper is adapted to be let into the side wall of the pocket and the uppe sec tion 36 is then placed upon the lower section and screws or the like assed downward through the superpose cars 37, 38 of the two sections into the walls. The two sections together provide an upright slot 39 for the pin 34, and obviously the pin can be inserted in said slot of the lower section before the upper section is put in place. Obviously, the keeper upon the partition 27 will have slots 39 upon both its opposite sides, while the other keepers will be slotted only at their exposed inner sides. It will be observed that the pin 34, which extends transversely of the book at the upper left corner thereof, has sufficient play within its keepers 35, 36, to form therewith a flexible connection between the book and its pocket, enabling the former not only to be swung out of the latter, but also to be elevated to the proper height to spread open on the side rests.

I have also shown in Fig. 5 a shelf 40 forming a closure for the upper part of the space between the side pieces 26, 26 which is not occupied by the book said shelf being secured to the back 29 by an upwardly extending portion 41 which also provides means for supporting a telephone instrument 42. Preferably the said portion of the shelf provides a stud 43 to which is pivoted an arm 44 carrying the telephone instrument in any ordinary and well-known manner so that it will swing above the book rests 32, 32 into convenient position for the user to talk into it or back against the wall out of his way while looking at the books.

In Fig. 8 I have illustrated a construction of my book holder in which pockets 45, 45 are separated by sutlicient space so that a plurality of books may be opened at the same time. This I have shown accomplished by making the adjacent rests of two pockets of suitable length and uniting them so as to provide an extended intermediate supporting surface 46. In the illustration I have shown only two pockets, the rests 47, 47 upon their sides away from each other being comparatively narrow, but it will be understood that as many pockets as desired could be connected by supporting surfaces 46. This construction is especially adapted for use in such places as public telephone pay stations where several persons desire to consult directories all at the same time.

In Fig. 9 I have illustrated a holder with horizontal rests 48, 48, the side pieces 49, 49 of the book holder being in this case rectangular, so that the rear edge of the book pocket rests against a wall or the like, together with the rear edges of the rests 48, 48.

Obviously various detail modifications may be made by those skilled in the art in manufacturing my improved book holder, and I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself except as'required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A device of the character described including rests in vertical alinement with a depending pocket open at top and in front to receive a bookwhen closed, and means for flexibly attaching the latter at its upper inner corner rearwardly of said pocket, permittingthe book to be swung up and spread open over the rests.

2. A device of the character described including means for supporting a book in an open condition, spaced members depending intermediately of said supporting means adjacent the sides of the book when closed, the back of the book being turned toward the rear of said members and a movable connection between the upper corner of the tack of the book and the rear of said supporting means, permitting the book to be withdrawn forwardly and upwardly to be spread open with its back over the space between the members.

3. A device of the character described including side pieces spaced apart to form a continuous gap in front and at the top adapted to receive a closed book, rests projecting outwardly in opposite directions from the upper part of said side pieces in position to support the book when open, and anchoring means flexibly connecting the upper inner corner of the book in rear of said gap.

4. A book-holder comprising rests separated by a slot and adapted to support a book when open, side pieces depending from the inner edges of said rests spaced to form a gap continuous with said slot aflording a pocket for the closed book, and means for pivoting the book at the upper inner corner thereof in the rear of said pocket, permitting its insertion in the comblned slot and gap or withdrawal therefrom.

5. A book-holder comprising a divided support adapted to sustain a book in an open conCltion, side pieces depending from adjacent edges of said support spaced to form a pocket for the book when closed the back of the book being in substantial parallelism with the rear of the pocket, a backing piece constituting a rear closure for the latter projecting thereabove to afford a means of attachment, and means forming a movable connection between the upper corner of the books back and said backing piece enabling the book to be swung upwardly out of the pocket onto the divided support with its back directly over said pocket.

6. A book-holder comprising rests arranged to sustain a book when open, side pieces depending from said rests forming a pocket for the reception of the closed book, said pocket being closed at the bottom and rear, and open in front and at the top, a

flexible connection between the upper inner corner of the book and the corresponding corner of the pocket permitting the book to be swung up and out of the latter onto the rests, and means for attaching the holder to a primary support;

7. A book holder comprising a frame hav ing a vertically disposed pocket open at the top and front and adapted to receive and retain a book in upright position when closed, means for pivotally suspending said book in the pocket from a point at the rear of the upper portion of said pocket, and rests extending substantially horizontally outwardly from the upper portions of the sides of the pocl et,;wliereby the book may be swung upwardly and forwardly out of the pocket about itspivot, and opened upon said rests, and may be swung downwardly and rearwardly about its pivot into closed position in said pocket. 1

8. A book-holder, including rests inclined to hold a book slanting in an open condition,

depending members forming a pocket open, forwardly and at thetop with its front up per edge overhanging the bottom portion thereof, said pocket being adapted to receive the book when closed, and means for flexibly t connecting the latter by its upper inner corner to the rear of the pocket, enabling it to be swung up and spread over the inclined rests.

9. A device of the character described including rests for supporting a book in an open condition, depending members intermediate of said rests spaced apart to form a pocket open forwardly and upwardly to receive the book When closed, a pivot pin passed through the upper inner corner of the latter, and keepers located at the corresponding corner of said pocket engaged by the ends of said pivot pin, permitting limited movement thereof so as to enable the book to be swung up and outof thepocket onto the rests.

OTTO E. ENELL.

Witnesses:

HOWARD P. KING, MILDRED E. BROOKS. 

